Altria Group, Inc. $MO Shares Purchased by Louisbourg Investments Inc.

Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 58.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,360 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $80,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in Altria Group by 88.5% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Invst LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 252.0% during the 1st quarter. Invst LLC now owns 16,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 11,589 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Altria Group by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,086,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,676,000 after acquiring an additional 161,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Altria Group from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Altria Group from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $47.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Altria Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.11.

Altria Group Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of MO stock opened at $66.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $111.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.55. Altria Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.86 and a fifty-two week high of $68.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.20.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.21 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 37.24% and a negative return on equity of 295.26%. Altria Group’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. Altria Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.350-5.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $1.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. This is a boost from Altria Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Altria Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.01%.

Altria Group Company Profile

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.